Another Side of Jesus

So the other day, as part of my praying of the Divine Hours, I was reading Luke 8:22-25.

This is a pretty well-known story, where Jesus calms the storm. The story speaks of Jesus' power - his ability to speak to wind and waves and they obey. The story speaks of the breaking in of God's Kingdom and kingdom warfare. Jesus is on his way to the other side of the Sea of Galilee where he will encounter the man demonized by the demonic Legion. In a last ditch effort to prevent this encounter, the powers of darkness stir up a storm to stop Jesus, but Jesus is the Stronger Man and the Kingdom of God breaks through.

In between getting in the boat and telling the wind and waves to be still, Jesus is sleeping. Much is made of this. Most of the time we hear about Jesus' trust in God. That Jesus isn't afraid of the storms of life, unlike his seasoned fishing buddies, but is able to sleep right through them. Certainly this is true; Jesus perfectly trusts God. Yet Jesus falls asleep before the wind and waves come. I think the slumbering speaks to another side of Jesus ... his humanity. He gets in the boat and he's tired. The rhythmic motion of the wind and waves work to put him fast asleep.

I can understand this. Recently I was out late doing some ministry. As the longer-than-expected car ride dragged on, I got very tired. I really wanted to engage with my friends in the car, but I was sleepy. It was an effort to keep my eyes open. To not drift off. Oh ... drifting off would be so nice ... Anyway, I can understand Jesus. And it is encouraging to me that Jesus understands me. I have limitations. Jesus had them, so mine must be okay. And that's encouraging.